Teen placed in juvenile facility for crash that killed 2 Tulpehocken High students

Sean M. Orner returned home Christmas night of 2017 with one of the best gifts he could imagine: A new lease on life.

The 18-year-old Bethel man had undergone surgery three days before to have a titanium rod inserted into his concave chest to help him breathe better. John Orner said his son was ecstatic to finally take the first deep breath of his life.

Less than 24 hours later, Orner and his second cousin, Shanon L. Althouse, 18, were killed in a horrific crash on Bricker Road in Upper Tulpehocken Township when their Tulpehocken High School classmate Brandon C. Clardy chose to drive at excessive speeds on the infamously winding road.

"Everything's lost its taste," John Orner said of his grief. "Nothing excites me. I don't look forward to anything anymore."

Clardy, now 18, appeared Monday for a disposition hearing in juvenile court after Judge Scott E. Lash found during a Sept. 24 hearing that he was involved in all charges, including two counts of homicide by vehicle. The ruling was the juvenile court equivalent to a guilty verdict in adult court.

After a full-day hearing that included emotional testimony from several of the victims' family members and friends, Lash ordered Clardy be placed in a juvenile detention facility immediately.

Clardy, who had been on house arrest before, was then taken by Berks sheriffs to Abraxas Academy in New Morgan to take part in the facility's Next Step Transitional Living program.

The victims' parents said they were shocked and relieved by Lash's ruling. While they had hoped the case would be handled in adult court and Clardy would face a stiffer punishment, they said his detention lifted a weight from their shoulders.

"It was the worst-case scenario and he got his worst sentence possible, which is fitting," John Orner said.

His wife Lorie described losing her son as a constant panic attack, but said having a chance to speak her mind in court Monday was tremendously therapeutic.

"What happened that day was a deliberate act," she said. "Brandon chose to drive like a lunatic, to go too fast on a winding road, to ignore the law and safety of everyone on the road that day. Going insane speeds on that road is not a question of if you wreck, but when."

The exact extent of Clardy's detention is unknown at this time, but Assistant District Attorney Bryan Boughter said he will not be released until Lash determines he has successfully completed the program. The case will be reviewed in three months.

Clardy was also ordered to complete 100 hours of community service, pay a to-be-determined amount of restitution and prepare a presentation on adolescent brain development and its impact on reckless driving to potentially use in the future to speak with peers.

Before issuing his ruling, Lash said he lost sleep over the tragic case.

"Generally I really enjoy my job, but coming in today and knowing what was going to happen throughout this hearing was very difficult," Lash said. "This is an unspeakable tragedy for two young individuals, for Shanon and Sean, and their families."

Courtesy of the Orner family |
Shanon L. Althouse and Sean M. Orner at their sixth-grade graduation. "The only graduation they ever had thanks to Brandon Clardy," Lorie Orner says.

Victims' families devastated

Michael Althouse said that he still remembers his wife Jacqueline's scream when a state trooper knocked on their door and immediately knew something happened to his kind-hearted daughter who was always smiling. He said he was grateful to share his daughter's story, saying she and Orner must have been horrified and screaming for their lives in the seconds before they died.

"We do everything we can to hold it together every day, but I don't know what to do," he said.

His wife said she was in total shock and didn't believe it at first.

"A parent's worst nightmare became my new reality," she said. "This family will never heal. There will always be a missing piece. She was our light and always will be."

Both families said they've been completely devastated by the deaths and are struggling to understand how and why such a preventable accident happened. And they stressed that their children would have never been on board with Clardy's plan to speed down Bricker Road, especially since Orner was still recovering from his surgery.

Sean Orner

Authorities said Clardy, who was 17 at the time, was driving on Bricker Road just after 4 p.m. on Dec. 26, 2017, roughly a mile from Tulpehocken High School.

Orner was in the front passenger seat and Althouse was in the back. Michael Althouse said the car, which had been a gift for his daughter, was turned into a weapon against her.

Clardy was driving more than twice the posted speed limit of 35 mph, which caused the vehicle to go airborne as it crested a hill. The vehicle remained in the air for more than 100 feet and left gouge marks in the road when it landed.

The vehicle then crossed the oncoming lane and struck a large tree, splitting the vehicle in half.

Clardy's side of the vehicle was mangled but intact while the passenger side was crushed into a heap of metal. Orner and Althouse were trapped in that side and pronounced dead at the scene.

Family members said Monday that the vehicle's black box showed it had been traveling at 98 mph when it hit the tree. They said Althouse's aorta was ripped from her heart and Orner's body was mutilated beyond recognition. Clardy suffered moderate injuries and was treated at Reading Hospital.

Zachary Althouse said his family has become closer since his sister's death as they rely on each other to get through each day.

"It still haunts me to this day," he said. "It's harder to enjoy life knowing she can't enjoy life."

Shanon Althouse

Differing opinions

Lash also heard testimony from psychatrist Dr. Larry A. Rotenberg and psychologist Dr. Timothy Ring about their evaluations of Clardy.

Rotenberg suggested Clardy be placed into a facility with ongoing counseling so that he can have "a corrective emotional experience." He said Clardy counts himself as one of the victims in the crash and didn't show any genuine remorse or ownership of what happened.

Rotenberg said that when he asked Clardy if he could have any three wishes, the teen didn't say anything about wishing the crash never happened. He said Clardy also said the greatest change on his life would be that he would lose his license for several years.

Ring said he believed Clardy was remorseful and that the responses and behavior that were red flags for Rotenberg were just typical of an adolescent. He said Clardy was at times in denial, but said also often said he wished he could trade places with the victim.

Ring suggested Clardy remain under supervision at home so that he could remain under the support of his family and continue in his current counseling.

"I believe this young man will never get past this, no matter how much treatment," Ring said. "This type of circumstance is horrific to say the least."

Reading Eagle: Jeremy Drey |
Two chairs were draped with caps and gowns in memory of Shanon Althouse and Sean Orner at Tulpehocken High School's 2018 graduation ceremony.

Judge: Choose healing

Clardy quickly read through a written apology in court, saying he was sorry to everyone dealing with loss.

"I would go back and change it in a heartbeat if I could," he said. "Shanon and Sean meant the world to me and I would never intentionally hurt them."

Lash said he believed detention was absolutely necessary in the case, due to the severity of the crime and for Clardy's personal growth and healing. The judge said he had doubts that Clardy's apology was "from your heart" and told him that he owes the victims' loved ones true remorse.

"You're the only one responsible, nobody else, just you," Lash said to Clardy.

The judge said he was troubled by several things that came out in testimony, including a post on Facebook about Clardy wanting to get his truck back on the road. Someone left a comment telling him to be safe, to which Clardy responded, "What's the fun in that."

"From what I heard about this accident, probably all three of you should have passed away," Lash said. "But you have this gift of life. It's up to you to make the most of your life and be a positive influence on this community."

Lash also spent a long time speaking to the victims' families and friends, encouraging them to find healing and to not harbor bitterness toward Clardy.

"There needs to be healing, there needs to be love and there needs to be peace," he said. "Your lives will never be the same and I can't say this will ever go away. … But you will make adjustments over time and with those adjustments you'll learn to tolerate it."